The present disclosure generally relates to data storage systems such as disk drives and more specifically, to a read/write head for use in optical and magneto-optical data storage systems to enable hybrid transduction of data from, and to a storage medium.
A conventional data storage system may include a magnetic head that has a slider element and a magnetic read/write element. The system may also be coupled to a rotary actuator magnet and a voice coil assembly by a suspension and an actuator arm positioned over a surface of a spinning disk. In operation, a lift force may be generated by the aerodynamic interaction between the magnetic head and the spinning disk. The lift force is opposed by equal and opposite spring forces applied by the suspension such that a predetermined flying height is maintained over a full radial stroke of the rotary actuator assembly above the surface of the spinning disk.
Flying head designs have been proposed for use with optical and magneto-optical (MO) storage technology. One motivation for using the magneto-optical technology stems from the availability of higher areal density with magneto-optical storage disks than magnetic storage disks. However, despite the historically higher areal storage density available for magneto-optical disk drives, the prior art magneto-optical disk drive volumetric storage capacity has generally not kept pace with the volumetric storage capacity of magnetic disk drives.
In recognition of the above-described difficulties, the inventors recognized the need for high-resolution, high-density reading and writing on data storage media.
The present disclosure describes an optical read/write head system having a support structure, an optical coupling element and a magnetic data coupling element. The optical coupling element is provide on the support structure and is configured to couple optical signal to and from a recording medium. The magnetic data coupling element is also provided on the support structure and is configured to couple magnetic signal to and from the recording medium. The two elements operate in combination to provide more effective reading and writing than with either element alone.